Thursday, February 20, 2014

In London, researchers have found new evidence that Greece’s
financial crisis is taking a toll on the health of its citizens, including
rising rates of HIV, tuberculosis, depression, and even infant deaths.

Since the
economic crisis hit several years ago, the government’s health spending has
been cut and hundreds of thousands of people have been left without health
insurance. Previous studies have found that suicides in Greece have increased
by about 45 percent between 2007 and 2011.Economic hardships have been found tobe a major factor in depression, research finding it has more than
doubled from 2008 to 2011.

Some
pregnant women no longer have access to health care, therefore the
complications later on in their pregnancy can be more pronounced. Infant
deaths, which had previously been falling, increased by more than 40 percent
between 2008 and 2010. It is most likely linked to the fact that babies not
getting enough to eat and fewer medical check-ups.

The medical
charity Doctors of the World confirmed the Greek financial crisis has had a
devastating impact on health. Deputy director Nathalie Simmonot wasn’t very
optimistic the Greek government would be able to reverse the situation anytime
soon, slamming their 2012 reintroduction of a law that forces drug users,
prostitutes, and immigrants to be tested for infection disease under police
supervision. She sees it as a violation of privacy.

I think the
government needs more involvement in the health crisis. It needs to implement
more laws- laws more recent that the 2012 reintroduction of the infectious
disease testing one. The health of citizens are going downhill and the research
has shown some dangerous data that is not going to get better on its own. Because
the economy is the source of this downfall, it is the solution to the health
crisis.